This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Two former Mount Sinai dental surgeons charged in $200K fraud

Dr. Cameron Clokie, left, is alleged to have pocketed at least $139,000 from the scheme. Police say Dr. George Sandor, right, fled to Finland after the investigation into his alleged health fraud began. (Ideacity screengrab/U of T)

Criminal fraud allegations against two dentists are just the latest kick in the teeth for the prominent dental surgeons.

As well as facing several charges of fraud over $5,000, the men have been dogged over the past 10 years by allegations against one or the other of a sexual relationship with a patient, a complaint that one of them threw a plastic skull during a consultation, and extradition from Finland.

Provincial police allege that Dr. George Sandor and Dr. Cameron Clokie charged OHIP more than $200,000 for dozens of surgeries they didn’t attend and tacked on extra services to bills on numerous occasions for work performed at Mount Sinai Hospital.

In 2010, the year the OPP launched its investigation, Sandor left his posts at the University of Toronto and Mount Sinai hospital and, police say, moved to Finland, where he had defended his PhD.

Article Continued Below

He left behind a pending disciplinary hearing for false-billing charges stemming from work at the Hospital For Sick Children, said Irwin Fefergrad, the registrar of the Royal College of Dental Surgeons of Ontario.

“He skipped town,” Fefergrad told the Star. “We still suspended him because he didn’t pay his fees, but we will have a hearing.”

(Sandor’s licence to practice was revoked by the college in 2013 for the nonpayment of fees.)

SickKids confirmed Sandor was reported to the college in connection to work he did there, but could not expand on the report before the Star’s print deadline.

A 2006 paper co-authored by Sandor and Clokie, among others, lists Sandor as the co-ordinator of pediatric oral and maxillofacial surgery at Sick Kids and Bloorview Kids’ Rehab as well as a clinical director of the graduate program in oral and maxillofacial surgery and anesthesia at Mount Sinai.

Though Sandor left that hospital years ago, Clokie left just last month.

On Feb. 1, just weeks before he was charged by police, his professional college made findings of misconduct.

That stems from allegations Clokie had a consensual sexual relationship with a patient, which constitutes sexual abuse under the Regulated Health Professions Act.

The dentist pleaded not guilty to the allegations, said Scott Fenton, Clokie’s lawyer on the matter.

“He maintains that he did nothing wrong,” Fenton said, declining to comment further as it is still before the college. A sentencing hearing is set for May.

What the panel found could not be substantiated were the complainants’ allegations that Clokie lost his temper and hurled a plastic skull across the room during a consultation.

The complainant, who attended the meeting with her husband, testified that Clokie threw the skull “with such velocity that it caused her hair to move as it flew by her and that it scared her almost to the point of incontinence,” read the decision.

But the panel rejected the allegation after listening to the couple’s audio recording of the meeting.

U of T spokesperson Erin Vollick confirmed that Sandor left the faculty in 2010. She added that Clokie has been suspended as a faculty member, but she could not provide more details as to why as of Wednesday night.

Through Fenton, Clokie declined to comment on either the fraud allegations or his professional discipline matters.

Sandor could not be reached for comment before deadline.

Combined, the OPP allege the surgeons billed for 101 surgeries they did not attend and added fraudulent charges on 24 occasions.

Though most dental services are charged through private billings, surgeries in a hospital setting are billed through OHIP, said Det. Staff Sgt. Dorian Dwyer of the OPP’s Health Fraud Investigation Unit.

“There’s a lot of things that can happen here because it’s a system based on trust and honesty,” Dwyer said when asked about the exact nature of the charges. “It’s really up to the doctor to verify yes or no, this is accurate.”

“Dentists, like physicians, at Mount Sinai are independent contractors. OHIP billings are their individual responsibility and they bill directly to OHIP,” said hospital spokesperson Sally Szuster.

She declined to comment further with the case before the courts and the surgeons no longer affiliated with the hospital.

The charges against Sandor stem from alleged incidents that occurred between January 2006 and December 2009.

In January he was arrested in Oulu, Finland, and escorted back to Canada in February to face three counts of fraud over $5,000 — two for defrauding OHIP, and one for defrauding Sick Kids.

The total value police allege he gained from the scheme was over $68,000.

Clokie was arrested on March 10 in Toronto. He is facing two counts of fraud over $5,000, amounting to over $139,000 in value.

Police allege Clokie charged for 75 surgeries he did not attend between January 2007 and December 2009.

Both men were released on bail. The bail conditions do not include restrictions on practicing, according to OPP investigator Marc Duval.

Sandor is set to make a court appearance on March 31 and Clokie on March 21.

With files from Vjosa Isai

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com